Stephen M. Gill
Texas Tower
845 Texas Avenue
Suite 4700
Houston, Texas 77002
Stephen M. Gill is Co-Head of V&E’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Capital Markets practice group. He is an accomplished corporate lawyer who leads Vinson & Elkins’ public company mergers & acquisitions practice. Steve advises both acquirers and targets involved in high-profile transactions across industry sectors.
Some of his notable representations include advising RSP Permian in its $9.5 billion sale to Concho Resources, which created the largest unconventional shale producer in the Permian Basin, and advising Maxar Technologies in its $3.6 billion merger with DigitalGlobe, which produced a leading provider of satellites, earth imagery, geospatial data solutions and analytics.
In addition to his M&A work, Steve represents public companies with respect to securities law compliance, securities offerings, and corporate governance. He also advises public companies on matters relating to shareholder activism defense.
Widely recognized for his accomplishments, he has twice been named an Energy MVP by Law360, and was one of three finalists for Texas Lawyer’s 2018 Attorney of the Year. Steve is a member of the board of directors of the Performing Arts Houston.
Experience Highlights
CrownRock, a joint venture of CrownQuest Operating and Lime Rock Partners, in its $12 billion sale to Occidental (In Process)
Crestwood Equity Partners in the $7.1 billion sale of the company to Energy Transfer in an all-equity transaction
Denbury Inc. in its $4.9 billion sale to ExxonMobil
Bonanza Creek Energy in its business combination with Extraction Oil & Gas to form Civitas Resources and Civitas’ subsequent acquisition of Crestone Peak Resources, creating a $4.5 billion combined company
Frank’s International in its merger with Expro Group
Noble Energy in its $13 billion sale to Chevron
Jagged Peak Energy in its $2.27 billion merger with Parsley Energy
Roan Resources in its $1 billion sale to Citizen Energy Operating, LLC, an affiliate of Warburg Pincus
WildHorse Resource Development in its $4 billion sale to Chesapeake Energy
Maxar Technologies in its $3.6 billion merger with DigitalGlobe, creating a leading provider of satellites, earth imagery, geospatial data solutions and analytics
RSP Permian in its $9.5 billion sale to Concho Resources, creating the largest unconventional shale producer in the Permian Basin
Rice Energy in its $6.7 billion merger with EQT Corporation, creating the largest independent producer of natural gas in the United States
The Shaw Group in its $3 billion sale to Chicago Bridge & Iron
C&J Energy Services in its $2.86 billion merger with Nabors’ completion and production business to create a leading diversified completion and production services provider
Energy XXI in its $2.3 billion acquisition of EPL Oil & Gas Inc., creating the largest publicly traded independent oil and gas producer on the Gulf of Mexico Shelf
Select Energy Services, an affiliate of Crestview Partners, in its $1.3 billion merger with Rockwater Energy Solutions
Westlake Chemical Corp. in its subsequently withdrawn unsolicited $1.2 billion bid to acquire Georgia Gulf Corp., North America’s largest maker of vinyl construction products
Huntsman Corporation in its $1.1 billion acquisition of the performance additives and titanium dioxide businesses of Rockwood Holdings
St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System in its $1 billion transfer to the Catholic Health Initiatives
NorthStar Realty Finance in the approximately $16 billion combination with NorthStar Asset Management Group and Colony Capital in an all-stock merger of equals transaction to create a world-class, internally-managed, diversified real estate and investment management platform
CYS Investments, an agency mortgage REIT, in its $1.475 billion merger with Two Harbors Investment Corp., a leading hybrid mortgage REIT
The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Owens Realty Mortgage, a specialty finance REIT, in its $200 million merger with Ready Capital Corporation, a real estate finance company
Rice Energy in the proxy contest defense of its merger with EQT against JANA Partners
Sandridge Energy in its proxy contest defense against Carl Icahn and in the defense of the unsolicited bid of Midstates Petroleum
Crest Financial Limited in its proxy contest against the merger of Clearwire Corporation with Sprint Nextel Corporation, resulting in an increase of the merger consideration of approximately 70% from $2.97 to $5.00, valuing Clearwire at $14 billion
Credentials
- Tulane Law School, J.D. summa cum laude, 2001 (Notes & Comments Editor, Tulane Law Review; Order of the Coif)
- Louisiana State University, B.A., Political Science, 1998
- Chambers USA, Corporate/M&A (Texas), 2018−2024; “Up and Coming” in Corporate/M&A (Texas), 2018 and 2019
- Law360, Energy MVP, 2017 and 2018; Rising Star, Energy, 2015
- Selected to the 500 Leading Dealmakers in America, Lawdragon, 2022 and 2024
- Selected to the 500 Leading Energy Lawyers, Lawdragon, 2023 and 2024
- Selected to the Texas Rising Stars list, Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters), 2005−2015
- Legal 500 U.S., Energy Transactions, 2017; M&A: Large Deals, 2017–2019; Private Equity Buyouts, 2017; Real Estate: REITs, 2017; Shareholder Activism, 2019 and 2020; US Taxes: Non-Contentious, 2019; M&A/Corporate & Commercial: M&A: Large Deals ($1 Billion plus), 2022-2024; Finance: Capital Markets: Debt Offerings, 2023; Finance: Capital Markets: Equity Offerings, 2023; M&A/Corporate & Commercial: Private Equity Buyouts, 2023
- IFLR1000, 2020–2023
- The Best Lawyers in America© (BL Rankings, LLC), Mergers & Acquisitions Law (Houston), 2022–2025
- Texas
- Deals & CasesAugust 21, 2024
- Rankings & AwardsAugust 20, 2024
- Rankings & AwardsJune 12, 2024
- Rankings & AwardsJune 6, 2024
- Deals & CasesJune 3, 2024
- Rankings & AwardsApril 25, 2024
- Deals & CasesFebruary 21, 2024
- Deals & CasesJanuary 31, 2024
- Deals & CasesDecember 11, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsOctober 26, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsAugust 21, 2023
- Deals & CasesAugust 16, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsJuly 14, 2023
- Deals & CasesJuly 13, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsJune 12, 2023
- Deals & CasesJune 8, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsJune 1, 2023
- Deals & CasesMay 11, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsMarch 17, 2023
- Deals & CasesMarch 7, 2023
- Deals & CasesFebruary 27, 2023
- Deals & CasesNovember 3, 2022
- Deals & CasesOctober 17, 2022
- Rankings & AwardsOctober 3, 2022
- IFLR1000 2022 Recognizes Vinson & Elkins in 21 Practice Categories, Recommends 49 Individual LawyersRankings & AwardsAugust 25, 2022
- Rankings & AwardsAugust 18, 2022
- Deals & CasesAugust 17, 2022
- Deals & CasesJune 28, 2022
- Deals & CasesJune 22, 2022
- Deals & CasesJune 22, 2022
- Rankings & AwardsJune 16, 2022
- Deals & CasesJune 14, 2022
- Rankings & AwardsJune 1, 2022
- Rankings & AwardsMay 10, 2022
- Deals & CasesMarch 9, 2022
- Deals & CasesMarch 7, 2022
- Deals & CasesFebruary 16, 2022
- Deals & CasesDecember 14, 2021
- Deals & CasesJune 7, 2021
- Deals & CasesMay 10, 2021
- Deals & CasesFebruary 17, 2021
- Rankings & AwardsAugust 17, 2020
- Deals & CasesJuly 20, 2020
- InsightJuly 26, 2018
- InsightJuly 26, 2018
- “Public Company Consolidations: What You Need to Know,” Energy Series, V&E Houston Office, March 20, 2019 (speaker)
- “Shareholder Activism,” The Deal Economy Conference – Chicago, September 24, 2018 (panelist)
- “What to Do When the Barbarians Are At Your Gate: A Shareholder Activism Bootcamp,” National Investor Relations Institute Annual Conference, June 10, 2018 (speaker)
- “M&A Transaction Structures: Corporate, Reporting, and Tax Considerations,” V&E Houston Office, June 14, 2017 (speaker)
- “2016 Proxy Review, 2017 Predictions & ISS Voting Policy Updates,” Houston Chapter of Society for Corporate Governance, February 8, 2017 (speaker)
- “Confidentiality Agreements and Standstill Agreements,” 35th Annual Conference on Securities Regulation and Business Law of the University of Texas School of Law, February 2013 (presenter)